As a girl, my mom built my self-confidence so much that I never had to explain my looks to anyone. I’ve always felt beautiful, and this is all what mattered. Words never affected me or led me to change who I am because I believed I was original, and this is what truly counts.

Have you ever wondered why the price gap between original products and copy products is immense? The products look exactly the same, but they don’t really have the same material or feel. There is no doubt that there is a unique beauty in being original.

The social pressure that men and women face every single day to abandon their originality and become a version of someone else is undeniably worrying.

Instead of embracing the beauty of their diversity most women are becoming clones of each other, believing that there are certain criteria on looks and appearances they have to follow in order to look beautiful.

Well, let us ask ourselves who decides these criteria? Who decides what beauty and attractiveness is? It’s society, right? Then the real question is who exactly makes up this society? We do. It’s you and I. We are part of this problem. We allowed beauty advertising and social media to dictate our looks. We gave them the power to define beauty.

Those sources have been selling an unrealistic, idealized image of female beauty. Women –no matter how beautiful– find themselves under the pressure to reach these perfect hair, face and body looks. They start abandoning their original beauty, in order to fit into the ideal notions of beauty imposed by society.

The truth is: nothing is ideal. The criteria of beauty differs from one person to another, and this is where I understand the wisdom in the diversity in God’s creation of humankind.

Women should be empowered to celebrate their differences, to understand the uniqueness of being original rather than fake. We need to educate our kids on the essence of diversity because they can change the future of our societies, and their perception of female appearances. Skin tones, eye colors and hairstyles define beauty. Beauty has no measurements. Beauty is diverse.

Embrace your originality. See beyond what society wants you to see. There’s only one you in this world, and this is your edge.

After a Bachelor and Masters degree in Political Science, Rana developed her passion for writing. Life has taught her that nothing is more powerful than words. Becoming a mother has changed her priorities, and her writing blog has become the place where she lets go of everything and lets her mind and hear stay where they want to stay.